Service · Google Business Profile
Get into the
local map pack.
Your Google Business Profile is free, and for most local businesses it drives more calls than the website does. It's also the thing most businesses set up once and never touch again.
Search for almost any local service and the first thing you see below the ads is a map with three businesses beside it. That's the map pack, and for a plumber, cafe, electrician or physio it's frequently the single highest-value position in all of search — because the people looking at it are ready to call someone right now.
Which three businesses appear is decided largely by your Google Business Profile: how complete it is, how it's categorised, how close you are to the searcher, and what your reviews look like.
Why you might not be showing up
- The profile was never claimed or never verified
- The primary category is wrong — this is extremely common and heavily weighted
- Business details don't match what's on your website
- Too few reviews relative to the businesses currently ranking
- Services and attributes left blank, so Google can't match you to searches
- No photos, or three photos uploaded in 2019
- You're simply further from the searcher than the businesses shown
Most of those are fixable in an afternoon. Proximity isn't — but a stronger profile widens the radius over which you can still compete.
What the service covers
- Claiming and verifying the profile, including recovering profiles you've lost access to
- Correct primary and secondary category selection
- Complete services, attributes, hours and holiday hours
- A description written for both customers and search
- Photo strategy — what to shoot and how often to post
- Review generation system, plus response templates
- Matching your site's NAP details and structured data to the profile
- Ongoing posts and management if you want it handled
On buying reviews
Don't, and I won't do it for you. Purchased reviews violate Google's policies, and enforcement has become considerably better at detecting them. The downside is a suspended profile, which means vanishing from the map entirely — a far worse position than the one you were trying to improve on. A simple system for asking real customers at the right moment outperforms it anyway, and it compounds.
Start here if money is tight. If you can only afford to fix one thing, fix this. It costs nothing to claim, it's usually the fastest source of new calls for a local business, and it works even if your website is average.
Why it matters
- Free to claim and run
- Appears above organic results
- Drives calls and directions directly
- Works without a great website
- Reviews compound over time
- Fastest local SEO win available
FAQ
Google Business Profile questions
It's the free business listing that appears in Google Maps and in the box of three local businesses above the normal search results. For a local service business it is frequently a bigger source of calls than the website itself, and it costs nothing to claim.
The usual causes are an unverified or incomplete profile, the wrong primary category, too few reviews compared to competitors, business details that don't match what's on your website, or simply being further from the searcher than the businesses being shown. An audit will identify which of those apply to you.
There's no threshold that flips a switch — what matters is being competitive with the other businesses ranking for your searches, and receiving reviews steadily rather than twenty in one week. I'll set up a simple system that makes asking easy. Buying reviews is not on the table: it violates Google's policies and gets profiles suspended.
Yes — posts, photo updates, review responses and keeping details current are all part of ongoing management. Google rewards profiles that are actively maintained, and it's the part most businesses set up once and then never touch again.
Want to show up on the map?
Tell me about your business and I'll come back with a plan and a fixed price — no obligation.